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Red Empire
Geography The Red Empire is the largest nation in the Vast Expanse. Having conquered much of the central portion of the world, trade is heavily taxed and tracked. Being one of the warmest nations on the planet, the Red Empire contains many vast tracks of dry, hot land. This forces caravans to move quickly and take long stops for water. The frequency of these caravans contributes to economic decisions later. History The city-state of Redland was a growing city, reaching one million citizens quickly. For much of this time, they bought wheat, grain, and meat from surrounding nations - nations whose names have been lost to history. Then a man calling himself by only The Liberator came to power. He was insane - clearly - and focused on gaining and maintaining power for the nation. He implemented a law which stated that Redland may not buy an amount of food worth than two thousand Red-Gold pieces. This amount of money could never feed the city and so, armed with this bill and a to-be starving populous, the First Redland Expansion began. The First Redland Expansion The city-state rushed its military toward a nearby nation, whose name was destroyed by Liberator during their enslavement. They destroyed the nation's culture in three months, burning their scrolls, cutting the tongues out of any who sang their songs, and stabbing a pike through the heads of the learned members of society, effectively damning them to 'numbness'. Atop the ruins of their capital city, which had been a sparkling marble wonder, The Liberator placed an enormous farm. In one corner, he forced its citizens to grow wheat, in another, fruits, and in the second half: livestock. In this way, the people were fed. The Second Redland Expansion Two hundred years passed and yet the leader of Redland still called himself the Liberator. Whether it was the same man is unknown. Nevertheless, the man led the armies of Redland to the east, conquering as far as the Strait of War, destroying cultures in the same way. But, when faced with a small matriarchal nation calling itself Carrland, he was stopped. The Queen of this land told him that her land would not be taken. The Liberator tried for thirty years to take Carrland, but never succeeded. This nations remains today. After losing to Carrland in the battle of the Checkman, The Liberator implemented his most notorious rule: Women shall not be without a shadow of a man, in all things. This principle was disastrous. Women no longer were allowed to leave their husband's side unless they were at home. And so, women no longer learned, worked, or fought. Half of Redland's population was incapacitated overnight. It was at this time that Redland became the Red Empire. The Third Redland Expansion - The Fall of Redrend The Red Empire expanded northwestward after the war with Carrland and found a nation called Redrend. The capital city of this nation was called Farland. This group of people had been tight-knit since their founding. These people fought together for two and a half years in a bloody war which drained much of the Empire's resources. The people holed up in Farland, protecting themselves and their religion, culture, and way of life. After ten years, the siege fell and the wealthy of Redrend were scattered, some fleeing to Flachland and others joining the ranks of the Red Empire. The Regions of the Red Empire The Redrend Region Redrend refers to the land which was governed by Farland and which was later claimed by the empire and so also describes the region which is contains. Containing the southeaster corner of the Manurian continent, the people there are fierce and loyal. The city of Farland, once a staggering city of learning and trade, was reduced to cinders – its wealthy scattering to the north, or to Redland, where they were given The Thyme Region The Thyme region of the empire contains the longest island in the Vast Expanse and Mens'a Bay. Not included, though it is thought that they one day might, are the provinces of Salmania and Dense Rock. Before the Empire rolled through, this area was home to a struggling band of warriors called the Frindaki. Here, they traded amongst themselves, but were never able to gan a force mighty enough to defend themselves, The Heart Region The Heart region refers to all of the land conquered during the first and second Redland Expansion. The cultures within these places often worship their ancient deities in secret. One in particular are the L'Kree people on the border between the Lonely region and the Heart Region, along the notable L'Harne river - which runs clean, as it is said there, and allows any boat set upon it to float to sea without disturbance. They live in stone structures, even in the hot forestry they dwell within. These people have very dark skin, and so are treated as unequal in all the large cities of the Empire and even beyond those borders. Thus, the L'Kree remain on their land, learning what their ancestors laid forth. These people repeat a ritual each six days - laying a leg of goat on a small wooden platform floating on the river. This leg will drift for many days toward the Lonely Sea. Their belief holds that there is a being in that sea – one that will come from the water and end the L'Kree if they cease this ceremony. Curiously, the L'Kree are not the only culture to hold this belief. The peoples of the Badlands on the Lanarian continent hold this belief, as well as many people of Loria and Hunderia. The Lonely Region The Lonely Region of the empire is desolate – not of all life, but of civilization. It is the Northeastern most region of the empire and is home to few people – among them are only soldiers stationed there and small tribes indigenous to the region. Those stationed there live, mainly, at either Fort Silver on the Northeastern coast, or at Post IV, a ways southwest and inland of the fort. These are the only forts in the empire to experience boredom. Here, no one attacks, no one breaks the law, and the only sounds from the hot, windless plains are the unexplained groans from which comes the plains' colloquial name: The Moaning Flats. The Moaning Flats This phenomena began as the first soldiers were stationed at Fort Silver, before the building of Post IV. The guards there reported hearing noises in the fog - early in the morning when the water stuck to the grass, there came echoing sounds. The guards assumed they were cows, and moved along with their day. But as the weeks progressed and the herds of cattle moved further away, the guards became uneasy when the groaning took a sinister turn. The gnashing of huge barbed teeth could be heard from all directions – very loudly. The source of the moaning has not been discovered.